Delivering a new Deal

MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES

Together with the PwC facilities team, BaxterStorey has rolled out a number of key measures to help enthuse and engage employees when in the office.

The London office, for example, has seen the restaurant offer a 50 per cent discount on hot food from the restaurant. This has been a huge incentive for customers to buy more nutritious grab and go items, often seeing them purchase boxed salads and keeping them in the fridge during the day to take home in the evening.

The PwC team, in collaboration with BaxterStorey, has also introduced a ‘Moments programme’. These ‘moments’ are geared around five key elements – joy, magic, wellbeing, wisdom and moments for the individual.

The series ranges from unexpected acts of kindness such as delivering 500kg of strawberries across 20 UK offices during the Wimbledon tennis tournament, to experiences in workplaces that inspire people to re-engage with the company’s buildings such as special social evening events where street food vendors would come into the PwC offices.

The company has also hosted special masterclasses with BaxterStorey chef partners, including Great British Menu star Kirk Haworth, as well as special educational Ted Talk style events with celebrities and leading figures from the world of business.

Noah explains: “These have been carefully designed to help us create moments in the workplace to inspire, amaze and bring joy to our people, reminding them of the true value of being together in person.

“We have emerged from two years of the pandemic, returning to a new version of normal life, and our people are transitioning from fully remote and remote-first working, to re-experiencing the magic of the workplace, and building new working patterns.

“These moments help our people reconnect with our buildings and offices. The role of facilities has never been more important as we are the people helping to host, stage and manage these events.”

He adds: “We know that food acts as an enabler for people to meet and collaborate. Once upon a time, the utopia was having a zero subsidy contract, now some could argue that it could form part of a benefits package for employees. The world has moved on.”

Denton explains: “Food is a vital part of the employee experience. Our teams help others to feel a real sense of occasion. It is quite different to what we’ve ever done before as the regularity and variety of events and experiences is quite different every time.

“We know how important our role is in creating the new normal. There is a real desire to get people back into the offices at certain times so we need to make sure that, when we are called upon, we are ready to create experiences that people will remember and feel good about.”

With more than 2,500 school leavers and graduates expected to join PwC over the next year, these experiences could make the difference when future employees make their career decisions.

Denton explains: “It’s the little gestures that really make the difference to people. We are here to make sure we are delighting our guests on a daily basis.”

RESULTS

If the desired impact of these changes were increased engagement, it has worked.

After the firm piloted summer working hours last year, allowing people to finish at lunchtime on a Friday having condensed their hours earlier in the week, a survey found more than 90 per cent of respondents reported a positive impact in their day-to-day working experience and over 70 per cent reporting a positive impact in their wellbeing.

A ‘Youmatter’ employee engagement survey in 2022 also saw an increase in respondents being able to find a balance between work and personal life. Groves explains: “The rollout has been incredibly successful. Our people feel more than ever before that they can have a healthy balanced lifestyle, and be successful at PwC.

“This is incredibly significant as, not only do we know that better engagement has a huge impact on productivity, it enables us to do better quality work for our clients and, ultimately, helps profitability too.”

She added: “If a business is supporting and investing every year in the wellbeing of its people, it will aid their bottom line. It’s a two-way deal that is truly in the interests of everybody involved.”

As with most deals, terms can be renegotiated, and this flexibility to re look at the core components touches on the very essence of the concept.

Groves concludes: “Fundamentally, the ‘Deal’ is all about flexibility and it will evolve as the needs of our teams and wider business evolves.”

However it evolves, the role of facilities will be ever more crucial.